Work suit having lifesaving function

ABSTRACT

A work suit having a lifesaving function is provided where the work suit is made of two or more sheets of fabric, at least one variable contact tube keeping air in an amount smaller than a maximum capacity is formed in the uppermost part of a side of the work suit that corresponds to the girth of the body of a wearer, and when the variable contact tube gets into water, air in a lower portion is moved up by water pressure such that the thickness of an upper portion changes to the thickness when the variable contact tube is fully filled with air, so the variable contact tube come is in close contact with the body of the wearer.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a work suit having a lifesaving function and, more particularly, to a work suit having a lifesaving function, the work suit providing not only a function of floating the body of a wearer, but also a function of maintaining body temperature in a submersion accident while not considerably reducing activity of the wearer in normal times.

In general, life jackets must be worn by the person on board the ship and is a life-saving article on entering the water. The life jackets are designed to prevent people from drowning in the water such as rivers, lakes, seas, when playing in water and enjoying various water sports or fishing, or when someone on board a ship falls into the water.

Such life jackets are formed to have a buoyancy to float the wearer on the water regardless of the wearer's will when the user falls into the water while wearing the life jackets.

General life jackets are formed in a vest shape in which a neck inserting part and an arm inserting part are formed on a vest body, which is formed to be worn on a human body, and a front part thereof is opened. The vest body is formed of a structure in which a buoyant body is embedded between an inner shell and an outer shell, which are made of a fabric, and a zipper or a buckle is provided as a locking means for opening and closing the opened front part.

As an example of such a life jacket, the vest type life jackets are disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2015-0117044 and Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0432410.

The conventional life jackets as described above are a mandatory fixture on all ships and everyone should wear it to prevent human accidents such as drowning etc. when enjoying water sports. In recent years, awareness of the importance of the life jackets has spread and its utilization rate has been increased.

However, since the conventional life jackets are thick and bulky, the activity thereof is uncomfortable in the state of wearing it. In particular, in the case of wind or rain, it is necessary to wear a windproof clothing or a raincoat separately with the life jackets. In this case, it is very inconvenient to wear the life jackets and wear the windproof clothing or the raincoat on top of the life jackets or vice versa. Moreover, since it is difficult to work on board while wearing the raincoat or the windproof clothing and the life jacket at the same time, the wearer is reluctant to wear the life jackets while wearing the raincoat or the windproof clothing.

In addition, the above life jackets may provide a function of floating a part of the wearer's upper body above the water surface in the event of a drowning accident. However, since the life jackets are not in close contact with the wearer's body, the water flows between the life jacket and the wearer's body.

Accordingly, the body temperature of the wearer drops in a short time by the water flowing between the life jackets and the wearer's body, resulting in a problem of dying from hypothermia.

PATENT LITERATURE

Patent Literature 1: Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2015-0117044 (Oct. 19, 2015)

Patent Literature 2: Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0432410 (Dec. 1, 2006)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a work suit having a lifesaving function, the work suit being able to provide not only a function of floating the body of a wearer, but also a function of maintaining body temperature in a submersion accident while not considerably reducing activity of the wearer in normal times.

According to an aspect of the invention to achieve the object described above, there is provided a work suit having a lifesaving function, wherein the work suit is made of two or more sheets of fabric, at least one variable contact tube keeping air in an amount smaller than a maximum capacity is formed in the uppermost part of a side of the work suit that corresponds to the girth of the body of a wearer, and when the variable contact tube gets into water, air in a lower portion is moved up by water pressure such that the thickness of an upper portion changes to the thickness when the variable contact tube is fully filled with air, so the variable contact tube come is in close contact with the body of the wearer.

Here, the variable contact tube is formed in a thickness that allows to come in close contact with the body of the wearer when the variable contact tube is fully filled with air.

Further, the variable contact tube is formed in a height sufficient to allow air in the lower portion to move up to the upper portion and the upper portion to be filled with air corresponding to the maximum capacity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in confluence with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a work suit having a lifesaving function according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of overalls of the work suit having a lifesaving function according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a view showing a state change of a variable contact tube according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are view showing a change of the state of contact with a wearer due to a state change of the variable contact tube according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view schematically showing a work suit having a lifesaving function according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The desirable implementation examples in accordance with this invention are explained in detail in reference to the drawings attached below. However, the same reference numbers are given to the same or corresponding components regardless of drawing codes and repeated explanations will be omitted. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the invention will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a work suit having a lifesaving function according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of overalls of the work suit having a lifesaving function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a work suit (1) having a lifesaving function according to an embodiment of the present invention is fabricated with two or more sheets of fabrics and includes a hood (10), a jacket (20), and overalls (30).

The material of the fabric used for the work suit may be Neoprene having buoyancy and having an advantage of excellent waterproof ability, heat insulation ability, and flexibility, and easy repair, but the present invention is not limited thereto and any materials can be used as long as there is a substitute material satisfying the functions described above.

The hood (10) has holes (M) at the portions corresponding to the wearer's eyes and mouth and has a structure that can cover the wearer's entire head.

The hood (10) is kept in a specific pocket formed on a side of the work suit and a wearer put it on his/her head when a submersion accident occurs, whereby the hood (10) prevents a loss of heat of the wearer's head due to water.

The jacket (20) is a normal jacket having a structure that has long sleeves and an opening/closing unit such as a zipper that can open/close the open front.

The overalls (30) has an upper body part (31) formed to cover the body of a wearer, a pair of leg parts (32) extending downward from the upper body part (31) to cover both legs of a wearer, and shoulder straps (33) each having two ends respectively connected to the front and rear of the upper body part (31) to be fixed on the shoulders of a wearer.

In particular, the overalls (30) of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, have variable contact tubes (40) formed in a side of the upper portion of the upper body part (31) which corresponds to the girth of the upper portion of the wear's upper body, and in a side of the lower portions of the leg parts (32) that correspond to the girths of the lower portions of the wearer's legs to keep air in an amount smaller than the maximum capacity.

The variable contact tubes (40) may be formed in a thickness that enables to come in close contact with the body of a wearer when they are fully filled with air.

The variable contact tubes (40) may be formed in a height sufficient to enable the air in the lower portion to move up to the upper portion such that the tubes can be filled with air corresponding to the maximum capacity in the upper portion when water pressure is applied to the variable contact tubes (40) in the water.

Hereafter, a state change of the variable contact tube (40) is described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a view showing a state change of a variable contact tube according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the variable contact tube (40) is filled with air in an amount smaller than the maximum capacity, so it has a thickness smaller than the thickness when it is fully filled with air, in normal times.

However, when a wearer drown due to a submersion accident, as shown in FIG. 3B, the air in the lower portion moves up to the upper portion due to the water pressure that increases with an increase in water depth.

Accordingly, the thickness of the upper portion becomes the same as the thickness when it is fully filled with air.

Although the hood, the jacket, and the overalls are separately provided in the embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto and, not only the hood, the jacket, and the overalls may be integrated, but also shoes may also be integrated with the overalls.

Further, although the variable contact tubes (40) are illustrated in the embodiment to be formed in a side of the upper portion of the upper body part (31) which corresponds to the girth of the upper portion of the wear's upper body and in a side of the lower portions of the legs (32) that correspond to the girths of both legs of a wearer of the overalls (30), the present invention is not limited thereto and the variable contact tubes (40) may be formed in any one of a side of the upper body part (31) and side of the leg parts (32) or may be formed around the entire girths or a portion of the girths, and a plurality of variable contact tubes may be spaced apart up and down in the upper body part (31) or the leg parts (32).

Further, one or more variable contact tubes (40) may be formed not only in the overalls (30), but also on a side of the jacket (20) corresponding to the upper body or both arms of a wearer.

Hereafter, the operation of the work suit having a lifesaving function according to an embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are view showing a change of the state of contact with a wearer due to a state change of the variable contact tube according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the work suit (1) having a lifesaving function according to an embodiment of the present invention, as the variable contact tubes (40) are filled with air in an amount smaller than the maximum capacity, a gap is ordinarily maintained between the variable contact tubes (40) and the body of a wearer, as shown in FIG. 4A. Accordingly, the present invention doesn't have a problem that activity of a wearer is decreased in normal times by the variable contact tubes (40), thereby preventing the problem that efficiency in work is deteriorated by a work suit.

However, according to the work suit (1) having a lifesaving function of an embodiment of the present invention, when a wearer goes into the water, as shown in FIG. 4B, the air in the lower portions of the variable contact tubes (40) are moved up to the upper portions by water pressure, so the thickness of the upper portions increases to be the same as the thickness when they are fully filled with air.

Accordingly, the upper portions of the variable contact tube (40) of the present invention come in close contact with the body of the wearer, whereby water flow into and out of the work suit can be minimized by the variable contact tube (40).

As described above, according to the present invention, a loss of body heat of the wearer due to the water flow into and out of the work suit is minimized, thereby providing the function of maintaining the body temperature of the wearer. Accordingly, it is possible to minimize the possibility of wearer's death due to hypothermia.

Meanwhile, the variable contact tubes (40) provide a function of floating the body of a wearer over the water surface as buoyant units. In particular, the variable contact tube (40) formed around the upper portion of the upper body of a wearer provides the function of floating a portion of the upper body of the wearer over the water surface, thereby providing a sense of stability to the wearer when a submersion accident occurs.

FIG. 5 is a view schematically showing a work suit having a lifesaving function according to another embodiment of the present invention.

A work suit (1) having a lifesaving function according to another embodiment of the present invention further includes an air injector (50), which enables a wearer to inject air, on a side of the variable contact tube (40).

The air injector (50) may be an air injection port that is applied to common tubes for a waterside excursion.

In particular, an air injector (50) that includes: a hose (51) having a first end inserted between two sheets of fabric through a side of the lower portion of the upper body part (31) of the overalls and connected to a side of the lower portion of the variable contact tube (40) and a second end extending outward; and a cap assembly (52) for opening/closing the second end of the hose (51) may be formed at the variable contact tube (40) formed in a side of the upper portion of the upper body part (31) of the overalls (30).

The cap assembly (52) may include a supporting ring (52 a) fixed to a side of the outer circumference of the second end of the hose (51), a connecting line (52 b) extending outward from a side of the supporting ring (52 a), and a cap (52 c) rotatably coupled to a side of an end of the connecting line (52 b).

As the hose (51) extends outward, the air injector (50) having this structure provides a structure that enables a wearer to more easily inject air.

Further, since the hose (51) is coupled to the lower portion of the variable contact tube (40), it is possible to prevent the problem that air moving up in the variable contact tube (40) is discharged outside through the hose (51) when the wearer drowns, and it is also possible to easily inject air without influence by the pressure of the air in the variable contact tube (40).

According to the present invention, there are provided not only a function of floating the body of a wearer over a water surface in a submersion accident, but also a function of maintaining the body temperature, such that it is possible to minimize the possibility of wearer's death for hypothermia.

Further, the work suit does not greatly decrease activity of a wearer in normal times, thereby preventing the problem of reduction of work due to the work suit.

While the present invention has been described with respect to the specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A work suit having a lifesaving function, wherein the work suit is made of two or more sheets of fabric, at least one variable contact tube keeping air in an amount smaller than a maximum capacity is formed in the uppermost part of a side of the work suit that corresponds to the girth of the body of a wearer, and when the variable contact tube gets into water, air in a lower portion is moved up by water pressure such that the thickness of an upper portion changes to the thickness when the variable contact tube is fully filled with air, so the variable contact tube come is in close contact with the body of the wearer.
 2. The work suit of claim 1, wherein the variable contact tube is formed in a thickness that allows to come in close contact with the body of the wearer when the variable contact tube is fully filled with air.
 3. The work suit of claim 1, wherein the variable contact tube is formed in a height sufficient to allow air in the lower portion to move up to the upper portion and the upper portion to be filled with air corresponding to the maximum capacity. 